Considering the Future of the Smart Grid and the EV

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2012/07/31

How about your smartphone as your car navigation system?

Yanase:This is a complete new era for the network that cars are connecting to. What kind of things will we become able to do?

Ueda:Nissan LEAF could one day be connected to a data center, receiving all kinds of information. If the Nissan LEAF's data center and an energy management system infrastructure could converse over a network, then we would become able to exchange power effectively. For example, based on the daily usage patterns and weather information stored in the data center, household solar power generation equipment could communicate: "Today it's sunny, so I'm going to minimize the night time charge by storing surplus power during the day." In this way we could use solar power-generated electricity without waste. This is an example of energy management, but we could also gain a lot of services through connecting with the new kind of vehicles. For example, if we could keep a watch on the health of a car, maintenance and other services would change. We would be able to supply customers with valuable information and services in real time whenever they want them.

Murakami:Putting it simply, you could be driving past Shibuya Station in an EV and then your car navigation system could notify you: "If you come to our store, you can charge up for free. Parking is also free." Notices are displayed like, "You can get 70% off your shopping." Ultimately this is the way internet businesses are thinking about how smartphones can be car navigation systems. People who want to advertise there can place ads, and the people who want to sell things can sell them. The era of single-function car navigation devices is ending!

The smart grid & the aging society

Yanase:In sixty years' time, Japan will have an aging population and a low birthrate, with a population of 80 million being 40% over sixty-five years old. Regional Japan is already an advance case study of this. Due to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, this problem has also been brought sharply into relief in Tohoku. The problem is that regional public transportation and shops are declining, and in towns with many older people, the elderly must now drive. With the kind of car structure we have now, the possibility of traffic accidents is certain to increase. Additionally, when there is no public transport, then a means for moving freely is highly important.

Murakami:We can consider two applications of the smart grid as being able to see electrical power and control of power consumption. A third is a service looking after the elderly who live alone. In 2050, well, I'll be over 100 years old, but let's say I live alone and my children are working abroad. I get up in the morning and sit on the toilet, and my vital stats get read and sent to my children; my blood pressure is this much, my temperature is this. And working with this, though we can't really call it a fourth application, is a service delivering necessary lifestyle items to other people. A smart refrigerator could enable conversations between the refrigerator and the oven: "This has run out." or "Today it looks like he wants to make this meal with this food." An EV is becoming an internet device, so we can expect to see that kind of data being exchanged.

Yanase:It might almost become rather meddling! It's surely possible as a system, though. It seems to me that the people who can show us the solution for all kinds of problems are car manufacturers.

Ueda:We were talking there about monitoring people. As I just said, a Nissan LEAF’s connection to a data center could in theory allow the state of the car to be monitored. In the future, that data might not only include a wide range of technical information but also a description of detailed services. For example, with the permission of owners, it could be possible to install car insurance rates into a database of past driving records. We were just talking about public transport and recently it's often said that there will be a shift from cars to public transport. But efficient transportation systems vary according to destination and place, and it's not the case that we can just arbitrarily say public transport is best. For example, in a town with a low population density, the means of transport require the most appropriate segregation; with just one crew member on the bus, the overall transport efficiency would be poor. From this perspective, combining EV car sharing with public transport would be good for the centers of a metropolis with high population density. What's more, while an EV is parked it can be used as a storage battery for everyone and utilized for energy management at the community level. This becomes the ideal where the community's overall energy usage efficiency would be improved and CO2 reduced, but without restricting the amount of personal movement. As a result, we can use internal-combustion engine vehicles around the periphery of a city and in the suburbs, and when we ride into the city center we can transfer to EVs or public transport. Through this kind of segmentation we can minimize total metropolitan transport, and in the end, for the residents, the smart community way of thinking makes homes and the city easier to use.

Yanase:Norio Murakami, what is the big hurdle preventing the widespread adoption of smart houses and EVs that utilize the smart grid?

Murakami:The system is ready, but I think we also have to pay attention to social demands. If we connect to the internet, somewhere we are putting ourselves at risk, right? Social networks have now emerged, and no one is given the time of day if you are anonymous, so using your real name is becoming the norm. It needs to be rigorously decided how our closely guarded personal data is used in that service within the boundaries of the contract, or there needs to be a structure in the system that guarantees that. However, the biggest factor is the psychological result. We can't ignore people's feelings and I think some resistance will likely remain.

Yanase:Up till now, cars existed as completely private units, but the way we've been talking, the automobile will emerge as something social. It seems to be becoming a new tool.

Murakami:I feel that the cars coming from houses in the suburbs and the cars going around the city center don't have to be the same car. What's more, the car you have at the house is like a dress-up doll, changing according to how you use it: the mother going shopping, the father going to golf, the daughter going off to take her course, the son going out on a date. Even if automated driving could become possible one day, we wouldn’t just be driving around automatically anytime and anywhere. For local shopping errands we could, for instance, use pick-up services. Before you know it, private means of transport will be becoming public means of transport. I think that EVs open up all kinds of possibilities, including car-sharing.

1Green New DealEconomic policy introduced by President Obama in 2008. In the same way that then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal weathered the Great Depression through investment in the public sector, the policies hope to overcome the present crisis through investment in the environment. Rather than through traditional public enterprises such as constructing roads and dams, it will simultaneously combat both the environmental and economic crises by expanding anti-global warming businesses.

2Electrical Power GridAn integrated system of generation, transforming, transmission and distribution in order to supply electrical power to the electrical facilities of the customer. In Japan 10 electrical power corporations each have their own power grids and, with the exception of Okinawa Electric Power Co., Inc., the power grids of the 9 companies are connected to the neighboring power grid. Almost all of Japan's commercial electrical power is connected to these large power grids.

3California Electricity CrisisFrom the summer of 2000 to the following year in the state of California the power corporations were not able to supply enough electricity, leading to several blackouts. Deregulation of electrical power started from 1996 and retailers were also partially deregulated in 1998. The main cause is said to be the increased separation of electricity producer and retailer, with the major electrical power corporations required to procure power from the wholesale market.

4Electric MileageThe driving range per volume unit of the electrical energy source, or an index showing by how much electricity a fixed distance can be traveled. In the same way as fuel cost and gasoline mileage, electric mileage changes per the electricity used (voltage, current, frequency), the tire air pressure, road surface conditions, engine oil type, the load, and driving pattern etc. Electric mileage is displayed comparing travel distance with the amount of electricity, and in Japan is often indicated by km/kWh.

5Norio MurakamiFormer Chairman Emeritus of Google Japan Inc.In April 2003 he Joined Google as Vice President of Google Inc. and as President and General Manager of Google Japan Inc., following this he was responsible for all operations in Japan. He left in January 2009 and became Chairman Emeritus, leaving this position in December 2010. Currently he is President of Norio Murakami Office Co., Ltd, and has been invited to be a researcher and lecturer at International University of Japan, to teach at Keio University, and to participate at the University of Aizu and the Osaka City Energy Strategy Conference. Before joining Google he founded Docent Japan in 2001 and served as its President, developing the company's leadership in the e-learning industry. From 1997 to 1999 he was President and Chief Executive Office at Northern Telecom Japan, leading the successful merger with Bay Networks Japan, the subsidiary of Bay Networks purchased by Northern Telecom. After this he served as President and CEO at the same corporation, renamed Nortel Networks Japan, until mid-2001. He began his career an engineer working on Hitachi Electronics Ltd.' mini-computer systems, before joining the Board of Directors at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Japan as the marketing director, working at the Massachusetts DEC headquarters for five years. He graduated from Kyoto University with a B.S. in Engineering.

6Masanori UedaNissan Motor Co., Ltd.Expert Leader, Planning and Advanced Engineering Development DivisionJoined Nissan in 1980 and worked on new vehicle design and development, moving to Nissan North America, Inc.'s development division. After serving as Senior Manager in the Vehicle Component Development Department and as Deputy General Manager in the Corporate Planning Department, in 2007 he became General Manager in the Global Environmental Planning Office. Along with planning environment business and launching the controlling environmental planning office, he formulated and announced the Nissan Green Program, the company's environmental strategies, and connected EV planning with a strategic market. From 2009 he took up his current position as the Expert Leader of the Planning and Advanced Engineering Development Division, Engineering Director for Energy & Environmental Technology. He devotes himself to planning all-round environmental technology, and also sustainable car society structures that work with smart grid and social infrastructures.

7Hiroichi YanaseNikkei Business OnlineChief ProducerJoined Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. (now Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.) in 1988. After working as an editor for Nikkei Business and founding Nikkei Logistics, he participated in launching the books department of Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., in 1996 while working in new media development. Until 2008 he was a books editor and worked on a number of bestsellers. Since 2008 he has been a producer for Nikkei Business Online. He also presents "Cultural Talk Radio Life" on TBS Radio.